From one photography collector to another: a venue for thoughtful discussion of vintage and contemporary photography via reviews of recent museum exhibitions, gallery shows, photography auctions, photo books, art fairs and other items of interest to photography collectors large and small.

Monday, March 9, 2009

Photography at Pulse New York 2009

Last Friday, we were able to spend some time at the Pulse New York fair at Pier 40. As always, we were focused entirely on the photography on view, and below you'll find a summary of what we saw in the galleries there. We were a bit tighter on time during our visit to Pulse (compared to the Armory), and so our review is a little less comprehensive (capturing perhaps 80% of the photography shown) and our notes a little less detailed (fewer image titles etc.), but I took a few more pictures, so perhaps it all evens out in the end.

One of the things I liked about Pulse was it seemed a lot less prepackaged. Booths were filled with gallery owners and principals (rather than perfectly dressed "handlers") who were eager to talk about the works on display. The casual atmosphere was altogether more lively and authentic (there is something reassuring about artist labels scrawled in pencil directly on the walls). There was also much more quality photography than I had expected going in, and the work had more energy and life (more unexpected Wows) than the work at the Armory.

For those of you who didn't read the Armory posts, this summary is organized by gallery, with lists of photographers found there, numbers of images in parentheses. Often there will be some additional commentary and pictures nearby. So let's get started...

Ru Arts Gallery: Anna and Jeff Bliumis (4, below). These were images of colorful fake books, placed as walls into various different landscapes and environments, called "Language Barrier". Quite a clever title, and generally memorable pictures. Also Slava Filippov (3).

Kopeikin Gallery: John Bennett Fitts (6, below). These color images of trees stranded in commercial developments reminded me of some of Lewis Baltz' pictures from New Industrial Parks (which I like, so I liked these). Also Chris Jordan (2) and Lisbeth Eva Rossof (6).

Birch Libralto: Toni Hafkenscheid (4)

Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery: Xu Changchang (3, below). Images of crumpled up and flattened out photographs of famous artworks, taking reappropriation in a different direction.

TZR Galerie Kai Bruckner: Jasper de Beijed (8), Ruud van Empel (3)

Jenkins Johnson Gallery: Jeong Mee Yoon (2, below). These are from her Pink and Blue Project, where kids are surrounded by all of their objects of a gender specific color. Since we have a young daughter obsessed with everything pink, these hit home. Also Shelia Pree Bright (4), Lynn Goldsmith (3), and Felicia Meeginson (4).

Winkleman Gallery: Eve Sussman and Rufus Corporation (installation of stills, video, and work table, below). Sussman is working on a new film, using the failed utpoias in Kazakhstan as a backdrop. Stand alone photographs of Yuri Gagarin's office and an eerie landscape covered with ravens are also available.

While we didn't find anything for our particular collection at Pulse, I came away impressed with the quality and variety of contemporary photography being supported by galleries and collectors around the world. It was a show well worth a visit, perhaps in the end even more satisfying than the sprawling Armory.